"My turn!" Youyu drew a card from the deck, "Summon from hand, 'Elemental Hero Blazeman'!"
The fiery hero, who had just made an appearance in the last match, appeared again, landing with a superhero pose, with a ring of translucent flames bursting beneath its feet.
[Elemental Hero Blazeman, Attack Power 1200]
Having just witnessed this hero's abilities in Youyu's match against Kuroda, everyone was naturally familiar with it.
President Tosawa Mukuro squinted: "Are you going to add 'Fusion' to your hand from the deck again?"
Youyu smiled slightly: "No, Blazeman has other special abilities. 'Elemental Hero Blazeman' can freely choose one of its two special abilities to activate once per turn.
'Add the Magic Card Polymerization from your deck to your hand upon successful summoning,' that's just its first ability. This time, I want to use its second ability."
Youyu waved his hand: "Blazeman's special effect activates! Send any 'Elemental Hero' monster from the deck to the graveyard, and Blazeman's attack, defense, and attributes change to match that monster until the end of the turn."
He drew a card from his deck on the Duel Disc.
"I'm sending 'Elemental Hero Edgeman' from the deck to the graveyard," he said, pulling a card and placing it in the graveyard area, "Until the end of the turn, Blazeman's attack power becomes the same as Edgeman's."
The golden hero's silhouette appeared behind Blazeman on the field, as if its power was absorbed into Blazeman. The fiery hero spread its arms, letting out a long, low roar like gathering energy, surrounded by fiercely burning flames.
[Elemental Hero Blazeman, Attack Power 1200 → Attack Power 2600]
The spectators below began to clamor again.
"Summon a 2600 attack monster so easily?"
"Isn't that too powerful!?"
"Whoa, whoa, if that's the case, won't the president get taken down in one turn too?"
At this moment, Youyu has Blazeman with an attack power of 2600 and Wildheart with an attack power of 1500 on the field, for a total combined output of 4100.
Meanwhile, President Mukuro's field was empty, and his LP was only 3600. If the attack went through, the duel would end here.
"I'm not holding back, Mr. President," Youyu chuckled lightly.
President Mukuro squinted, squeezing his already small eyes into an even smaller size.
"Battle Phase!" Youyu commanded, "'Elemental Hero Blazeman,' direct attack!"
The flames behind Blazeman surged like an engine, sending out a burning afterimage. He flew high into the air, skillfully twisting his body, using his hand as a blade, slicing down with a fiery, elegant arc in the air.
A direct hit!
President Mukuro grunted, taking the hit squarely with his body. The intense flames, enhanced by the Darkness Game, genuinely burned his body, forcing the president to one knee.
[Tosawa Mukuro, LP3600 → LP1000]
"The final blow," Youyu shouted, "Wildheart, direct attack!"
Wildheart received the order, let out a yell, drew his sword, and charged straight forward.
Kneeling on one knee, President Mukuro bit his teeth and shouted, "Flip Cover Card... Continuous Trap - Call of Life and Death!
Select one monster from your graveyard and special summon it to the field in attack position! When that monster is destroyed, this card is destroyed, and vice versa.
Revive, Archfiend Cavalry!"
A black storm rolled up from the ground, and the Archfiend rode back onto the dueling stage on his steed.
[Archfiend Cavalry, Attack Power 1900]
"Archfiend Cavalry!" Tosawa Mukuro shouted, "Engage Wildheart!"
Archfiend Cavalry let out a roar, thrusting its spiral spear forward. Charging Wildheart barely had time to raise his blade horizontally in front of him to block, but it was futile. The demon's spear shattered the blade in his hand and struck his body hard, whereupon the latter grunted before disappearing from the field.
Youyu watched the sequence unfold in silence.
Battle Recall... oh well, he's too tired to comment on it anymore.
At least before the Duel City Tournament opens, he must figure out a way to have President Kaiba change these awkward duel rules.
[Youyu, LP 4000 → LP3600]
"Set one card face-down, turn ends," he said, adding further explanation, "At the end of the turn, Blazeman's special ability ends, and its attack power reverts to its original."
[Elemental Hero Blazeman, Attack Power 2600 → Attack Power 1200]
Tosawa Mukuro: "Then, continuing to my turn, draw!"
Adding the drawn card to his hand, he suddenly chuckled softly and then couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"You're indeed quite formidable, among the best of all the duelists I've faced." He held a card facing the back towards Youyu, "I acknowledge you, kid. You're definitely qualified to witness this card."
The audience below began to get excited: "Is it coming, 'that card'?"
"The president's ace! That super rare high-level demon!"
"To see the president use this card, totally worth it!"
Tosawa Mukuro slapped the card onto his Duel Disc: "I sacrifice 'Archfiend Cavalry' on the field, come forth, my trump card, the strongest demon...
Raging Fiend Lord - Skull Demon, Summon!"
A thick cloud rolled over the arena, with golden lightning striking from the black clouds. Countless electric currents darted down, converging around a massive black silhouette, as if welcoming the arrival of an absolute king.
The demon descended from the sky with a daunting presence. Glistening white bones formed an armor that covered its body, and golden electric snakes danced around it like elves, exuding an ominous aura.
[Raging Fiend Lord - Skull Demon, Attack Power 2500]
The entire audience erupted in cheers and shouts, and all the Dark Duelists seemed to be applauding the President for summoning such a powerful demon.
"Skull Demon, attack Blazeman!" Tosawa Mukuro ordered directly.
The demon on the stage roared, releasing golden high-voltage lightning from the armor shaped like rib bones around its chest.
Under the demon's guidance, a vast thunderbolts surged towards the opposite side of the field, dense lightning shooting like a silver dragon roaring towards Blazeman.
"Activate the Set Card," Youyu pressed a button on the Duel Disc, "Negate Attack! When an opponent's monster declares an attack, negate that attack and end the Battle Phase."
"Hmph, I expected you to counter with a Trap." Tosawa Mukuro laughed, "But Skull Demon is the highest-grade demon commander, traps are useless against him!"
Youyu remained calm: "Skull Demon's special ability is that when it's targeted by an effect, it gets a chance to roll a dice.
If the result is 1, 3, or 6, then my 'Negate Attack' is negated and destroyed.
But if the result is 2, 4, or 5, the effect goes through."
"That's right, a fifty percent chance." Tosawa Mukuro said, "When it comes to luck, I have absolute confidence!"
The audience below couldn't help but cover their faces.
Boss, anyone else could be saying these words, but do you — who always loses at gambling — really have the right to say them...
Everyone always felt that having such a powerful Monster like Skull Demon in the boss's hands was a waste, because when it comes to dice rolls, the boss might never roll a 1, 3, or 6 his entire life...
Yet President Tosawa can still maintain a high victory rate despite such unfortunate luck, simply because the 6-star Skull Demon with 2500 attack points is already powerful enough even if its special effects are ignored.
If this Skull Demon were owned not by Tosawa Mukuro but by the legendary Gambling God Jonouchi, its power level would be at least doubled...
At this moment, the power released by the Skull Demon had manifested a fiery dice on the field. The enormous dice spun high into the air, then descended vertically with a blazing trail.
Tosawa Mukuro swallowed hard, staring unblinkingly at the spinning fiery dice...
...6!
"Hahaha, I got it!" Tosawa Mukuro was as excited as a 500-pound child, "Negate Attack is negated!"
The Mystical Space Typhoon released from the Trap Card was instantly dissipated by the demon's impact, and the card shattered into pieces. The vast currents pierced through Blazeman on the field, then continued unabated to strike Youyu himself.
[Youyu, LP 3600 → LP2300]
Over a thousand points of Dark Energy damage made Youyu grimace and step back half a step.
The onlookers were shocked.
The boss just...won a gamble?
Holy crap!
This must be some kind of record-breaking moment, right!?
Everyone then turned their astonished gaze towards Youyu.
Who is this young man?
Someone actually has worse luck than our boss, it's practically unscientific!
Youyu gave a helpless smile, glancing at his data panel with a painful 20 Luck Value.
Blame it on Luck E...
"Hey, did you see that, kid? This is the power of me and Skull Demon." Tosawa Mukuro started to brag, "I'll end my turn here. Come on, if you can, just try to defeat me!"
Youyu smiled slightly.
Then just as you wish.
"Draw! From my hand, I activate the Magic Card - The Warrior Returning Alive!" Youyu played a Magic Card, "This card allows me to add one Warrior-Type monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'm adding...'Elemental Hero Edgeman' to my hand!"
Tosawa Mukuro suddenly realized something.
Using Blazeman's special ability to send Edgeman from the deck to the Graveyard, then using 'The Warrior Returning Alive' to retrieve it from the Graveyard, effectively lets me select any monster from the deck to add to my hand...
What an amazing combo!
President Mukuro felt as if he had opened the door to a new world.
"Then I play 'Polymerization' from my hand!" Youyu played a Magic Card, "I fuse 'Elemental Hero Edgeman' and 'Elemental Hero Featherman' in my hand—
—Elemental Hero Great Tornado, Fusion Summon!"